An avalance swept away 3 skiers when they were sking outside of the ski area boundaries.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.
An avalance swept away 3 skiers when they were sking outside of the ski area boundaries.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 29, 2:55 PM MST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
255 PM MST WED DEC 29 2010
.DISCUSSION...
LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT...A POWERFUL WINTER STORM SYSTEM
WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE A SIGNIFICANT SNOW IMPACT FOR THE NORTHERN
ROCKIES. DEEP SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OVER MOUNTAIN PASSES...AS WELL AS
CONTINUED SNOW DOWN TO LOW ELEVATIONS...WILL MAINTAIN VERY HAZARDOUS
DRIVING CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT TONIGHT. A SURGE OF ARCTIC AIR WILL
CONTINUE TO MOVE WEST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE...WITH RAPIDLY
COOLING TEMPERATURES ACCOMPANIED BY GUSTY WINDS FROM THE NORTH AND
EAST. THE GUSTY WINDS WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW
THROUGH TONIGHT. DANGEROUSLY COLD WINDCHILL WILL DEVELOP BY LATE
TONIGHT AS WELL.
THURSDAY...SNOW WILL DIMINISH AS THE CURRENT STORM SYSTEM MOVES EAST
OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. ARCTIC AIR WILL CONTINUE MOVING WEST OF
THE DIVIDE...WITH GUSTY WINDS SLOWLY DIMINISHING THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
DANGEROUSLY COLD WINDCHILL AS LOW AS MINUS 25 DEGREES WILL PEAK
DURING THURSDAY MORNING...PARTICULARLY FOR THE HIGHWAY 2...HIGHWAY
200 AND HIGHWAY 12 CORRIDORS NEAR THE DIVIDE...AS WELL AS HELLGATE
CANYON NEAR MISSOULA AND BAD ROCK CANYON NEAR KALISPELL.
THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...EXTREMELY COLD AIR WILL SETTLE INTO
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO VALLEYS BY THURSDAY EVENING.
CONSIDERING THE HIGH PRESSURE ANTICIPATED TO DEVELOP AND DISSIPATION
IN CLOUDINESS DURING THURSDAY EVENING...SOME OF THE COLDEST
TEMPERATURES OF THE SEASON ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR EARLY FRIDAY
MORNING. LOW TEMPERATURES MINUS 10 DEGREES AND COLDER ARE POSSIBLE.
FOR SOME LOCATIONS...FRIDAY AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL STRUGGLE TO
REACH ZERO DEGREES.
CLEARING CONDITIONS WILL SETTLE OVER THE AREA NEW YEARS EVE
RESULTING IN THE COLDEST NIGHT ASSOCIATED WITH THE ARCTIC. MOST
LOCATIONS ACROSS WESTERN MONTANA AND CENTRAL IDAHO SEEING BELOW
ZERO TEMPERATURES. FORECAST MODELS SUGGEST THAT GRADIENT DRIVEN
WINDS WILL BECOME QUITE LIGHT AND THUS REDUCE THE POTENTIAL FOR
DANGEROUS WIND CHILL VALUES. HOWEVER SOME LOCALIZED DRAINAGE WINDS
THROUGH AREA CANYONS MAY PERSIST INTO SATURDAY MORNING.
TEMPERATURES WILL SLOWLY WARM THROUGH THE WEEKEND BUT STILL REMAIN
QUITE COLD AND WELL BELOW NORMAL TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR. THE
FORECAST REMAINS QUITE CHALLENGING HEADING INTO NEXT WEEK WITH
MODELS HAVING TROUBLE DEPICTING SPECIFIC WEATHER FEATURES CAUGHT
UP WITHIN THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. THERE IS SOME AGREEMENT THAT A
WEAK UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION ON MONDAY BUT
MOISTURE APPEARS LIMITED AND THUS AT THIS TIME FEEL IT WILL ONLY
RESULT IN MINOR AMOUNTS OF ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL. TEMPERATURES
WILL CONTINUE A MODERATING TREND THROUGH NEXT WEEK WITH READING
APPROACHING NORMAL BY WEEKS END. HOWEVER NO SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN
TEMPERATURES APPEARS LIKELY OVER THE NEXT WEEK .
&&
.AVIATION...TWO STRONG WEATHER SYSTEMS WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT
REGIONAL AIRFIELDS THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH SNOWFALL AND
REDUCED VISIBILITIES/CEILINGS. WINDS WILL CONTINUE IN KGPI THROUGH
TONIGHT AS COLD AIR MOVES OVER THE DIVIDE AND INTO THE REGION.
SNOW WILL TAPER OFF THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON AT KGPI THROUGH BLOWING
SNOW COULD CAUSE CONTINUED VISIBILITY REDUCTIONS. SNOW AND WIND
WILL MAINTAIN AT KMSO INTO THIS EVENING CAUSING LOW CEILING AND
VISIBILITIES. ALL AIRFIELDS WILL SEE NEGATIVE IMPACT INTO TONIGHT
AND COULD LINGER INTO TO THE MORNING. CONDITIONS WILL NOT
COMPLETELY IMPROVE THURSDAY MORNING AS AN ARCTIC PUSH WILL BRING
GUSTY WINDS...LIGHT SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM MST THURSDAY BUTTE/BLACKFOOT
REGION.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST THURSDAY BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE
MOUNTAINS...LOWER CLARK FORK REGION.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM MST THURSDAY
MISSOULA/BITTERROOT VALLEYS.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST THURSDAY FLATHEAD/MISSION
VALLEYS.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST THURSDAY WEST GLACIER REGION.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST THURSDAY KOOTENAI/CABINET
REGION.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST THURSDAY POTOMAC/SEELEY LAKE
REGION.
ID...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST THURSDAY EASTERN LEMHI
COUNTY.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 4 AM PST THURSDAY NORTHERN CLEARWATER
MOUNTAINS...SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PST THURSDAY FOR WHITE BIRD
GRADE.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PST THURSDAY
OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM MST THURSDAY WESTERN LEMHI
COUNTY.
&&
SHORT TERM...ZUMPFE
LONG TERM....DICKERSON
AVIATION...KITSMILLERThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
The Missoula sheriff's office reported that 3 skiers were caught in an avalanche when they were sking outside of the ski area boundaries. One skier was injured but alert.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche, Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains | 2010-12-29 | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, December 2010
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 272866.